On ESPN.com Keith Law wrote an article addressing the Los Angeles Angels' signing of Bobby Abreu. Law wrote
"the Angels need the OBP boost so badly -- they finished 11th in the AL last year in OBP, which includes two insane months from Mark Teixeira -- that even a moderate-power Abreu is a substantial upgrade. They can also mitigate his defensive issues by having him share the right field and DH jobs with Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero, no defensive whiz himself these days (although he's better than Abreu), may see his offensive output improve if he's given more frequent days off from playing the field, as he has been trying to hit without using his lower half for the past year-plus."
I agree with the first half of this statement and no so much the second. Law is a former writer for Baseball Prospectus, and obviously understands Billy Bean's obsession with OBP and getting on base. He's one of the best in the business and weathered stat-man and he generally gives fantastic projections. He notes that Abreu will help the Angels out with his .375 OBP, and Guerrero, Hunter and Wood need someone else to drive in besides Figgins. His defense though can only hurt the Holy ones. Although Guerrero's back is about to finally go, Abreu's defense was so bad in '08 that he may have to take the full time DH duty out of Guerrero's hands all together. His career range factor is 1.73 in right field, well below the 1.95 league average. His UZR, (ultimate zone rating) was a horrendous -22.9, well below the league average.
Signing Abreu will help the Angel's generate enough offense to half-compensate for the loss of Texeira, but benching Juan Rivera, a better outfielder than Abreu and a consistent power hitter is a bat move. So in truth, only one aspect of the game, OBP/runs, is what the Angel's target by signing Abreu (I've put runs and OBP in the same category as one is closely related to the other). If they had signed Texeira, a fantastic hitter and a guy that tore up Anaheim they would've been far better off. Now we'll have to wait for Mr. Kendry Morales to blossom.
I agree with the first half of this statement and no so much the second. Law is a former writer for Baseball Prospectus, and obviously understands Billy Bean's obsession with OBP and getting on base. He's one of the best in the business and weathered stat-man and he generally gives fantastic projections. He notes that Abreu will help the Angels out with his .375 OBP, and Guerrero, Hunter and Wood need someone else to drive in besides Figgins. His defense though can only hurt the Holy ones. Although Guerrero's back is about to finally go, Abreu's defense was so bad in '08 that he may have to take the full time DH duty out of Guerrero's hands all together. His career range factor is 1.73 in right field, well below the 1.95 league average. His UZR, (ultimate zone rating) was a horrendous -22.9, well below the league average.
Signing Abreu will help the Angel's generate enough offense to half-compensate for the loss of Texeira, but benching Juan Rivera, a better outfielder than Abreu and a consistent power hitter is a bat move. So in truth, only one aspect of the game, OBP/runs, is what the Angel's target by signing Abreu (I've put runs and OBP in the same category as one is closely related to the other). If they had signed Texeira, a fantastic hitter and a guy that tore up Anaheim they would've been far better off. Now we'll have to wait for Mr. Kendry Morales to blossom.
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